Why the Turner prize shortlist is a cultural barometer of our political times
28 April 2023 • Syndicate
Benedict Burbridge, University of Sussex The UK’s biggest prize for contemporary art is back. The 2023 Turner prize shortlist has… Read More
Author: Syndicate
From time to time we publish articles of interest from a select group of editorial partners.
These radical artworks force you to look in new ways
17 April 2020 • Syndicate
Time in isolation doesn’t have to mean time alone. Delving into art books, researching art online and even making art can reaffirm human connections and increase empathy.
Langston Hughes – domestic pariah, international superstar
25 March 2020 • Syndicate
A leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, the inspiration behind Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun” and an uncompromising voice for social justice, Langston Hughes is heralded as one of America’s greatest poets.
Leonardo da Vinci: 500 years after his death his genius shines as bright as ever
9 February 2019 • Syndicate
But to think of Leonardo as an Old Master – with all its connotations of being staid, traditional, somehow old-fashioned and boring – is to do this extraordinary man a grave injustice
The ‘Gurlitt case’: how a routine customs check uncovered a sensational Nazi-era art hoard
18 December 2018 • Syndicate
One of the biggest stories from the Nazi regime’s looting of Jewish-owned art began with a routine customs check on a train from Zurich to Munich in September 2010
Salamanders and the Vicious Circle of Sociocultural Pressure
28 November 2018 • Syndicate
American curator Ashley Middleton questions how cultural values shape collective behaviour and individuals’ identity-formation in East London show.
Visualising viruses: how art and science can flourish together
20 November 2018 • Syndicate
The first cases of AIDS were described over 30 years ago, in the early 1980s. The notion of a new viral disease that killed almost everyone who became infected was terrifying.
Brexit effect on the Arts
15 November 2018 • Syndicate
As we draw nearer to the end of the year, Brexit day looms ever larger. So then, does the end of British
arts and culture as we know it.
When the line between machine and artist becomes blurred
29 October 2018 • Syndicate
With AI becoming incorporated into more aspects of our daily lives, from writing to driving, it’s only natural that artists would also start to experiment with artificial intelligence.
Can art be knowledge?
27 September 2018 • Syndicate
Can something as subjective and open to interpretation as art be knowledge?
Delacroix at the Met: A retrospective that evokes today’s turmoil
16 September 2018 • Syndicate
Born in 1798, Delacroix was a privileged child of the Napoleonic age. As a young student, he honed his skills by drawing in schoolbooks and sketchbooks.
How a Beatles song about ‘revolution’ helped Nike become a billion dollar brand
7 September 2018 • Syndicate
Fifty years ago the Beatles released a single that sold over 8m copies – their highest selling 45rpm – Hey Jude. While Hey Jude made the greater impression, it was the B-side – Revolution – in which John Lennon addressed the global political upheaval of 1968 that has the more interesting story.
Madonna: pop’s superlative shapeshifter turns 60 with style
16 August 2018 • Syndicate
One of the first albums I owned was a tape of Madonna’s 1987 remix collection You Can Dance. I’m not sure where I got it from – and I’m not sure I even liked it – but the bright red cover and Madonna’s hard, direct stare are etched in my mind’s eye even now, 30 years later.
Clothing rental could be the key to a stylishly sustainable fashion industry
6 August 2018 • Syndicate
A staggering 235m items of unwanted clothing were forecast to be dumped in UK landfill in 2017, while the average American is estimated to bin 81lb (37kg) of used clothing annually. Overconsumption and the inevitable disposal of unwanted clothing has become a worrying global problem –
Shakespeare, DNA, and why car parks are a key part of British culture
2 July 2018 • Syndicate
car parks seem to be intersecting with English history quite a bit lately. Most famously, Richard III’s skeleton was discovered underneath one in Leicester in 2013. It’s appropriate, then, that one of the first plays to be shown in York’s replica theatre will be Richard III, a tribute to the city’s infamous son and one that resonates in a slightly macabre way with the site of the 2013 discovery.
Artwashing’ gentrification is a problem – but vilifying the artists involved is not the answer
24 April 2018 • Syndicate
The value of culture in regenerating cities has long been recognised. Sometimes this happens centrally, whether via the commissioning of high profile public artworks, or the rebranding of city areas as cultural quarters. But in many cities, culture led redevelopment occurs organically.
The Jean-Michel Basquiat I knew…
3 September 2017 • Syndicate
The graffiti artist turned painter became the star of the 1980s New York art scene. Since his death aged 27, his reputation has soared. On the eve of a major UK show, we speak to those who knew him best
Review: Folkestone triennial – beached bungalows and giant jelly mould pavilions
3 September 2017 • Syndicate
Antony Gormley sculptures lurk under the promenade, Richard Woods invades town with huts for second-homers, while Bob and Roberta Smith treats local kids to art lessons. An eye-catching battle is raging at the Kent seaside between rich and poor, social decay and civic pride
Where is the world’s most dangerous country for young people?
23 August 2017 • Syndicate
The widening gap in youth mortality between the developed and developing world is down to traffic accidents, violence and disease, a new analysis shows
Tate Modern to play host to a working ceramics factory
20 August 2017 • Syndicate
Visitors can volunteer in factory, featuring eight tonnes of clay, a 30-metre production line and more than 2,000 fired objects
World of leather: how Tom of Finland created a legendary gay aesthetic
16 August 2017 • Syndicate
His subversive drawings ridiculed authority figures and inspired the look of Freddie Mercury and the Village People. A new film tells the story of Touko Laaksonen’s rise to become Europe’s kinkiest art export
Rise of the racist robots – how AI is learning all our worst impulses
8 August 2017 • Syndicate
There is a saying in computer science: garbage in, garbage out. When we feed machines data that reflects our prejudices, they mimic them – from antisemitic chatbots to racially biased software. Does a horrifying future await people forced to live at the mercy of algorithms?
The rise in art protests: how the gallery became a new battleground
5 August 2017 • Syndicate
An exhibit by controversial artist Dana Schultz, accused of profiting from black pain, has led to anger, the latest in an increasingly long line of art world protests
How art is being used to explore America’s shameful legacy of lynching
2 August 2017 • Syndicate
A new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum examines the history of racial persecution in the US while steering clear of explicit violence